The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced Friday it is adopting a responsible approach to oil shale research and development on public lands. According to its long-awaited Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), the BLM plans to open 1,000 square miles of public land in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah for oil shale companies to continue their century-long effort to make the rock a viable fuel source.
Prior to any commercial oil shale leasing, however, the government will hold industry accountable for proving development is commercially viable, and that companies can develop the resource without significant impacts to water supplies and local ecology.
Current techniques to mine and process oil shale are extraordinarily water intensive. According the Government Accountability Office’s estimates, large-scale oil shale development could require more than 123 billion gallons of water each year. That’s enough water to supply 750,000 Western households.
This water intensive development would occur in the headwaters of the Colorado River Basin, a critical source of water for millions of Americans in the water scarce western U.S.
The BLM’s smart approach heeds the advice of small businesses, communities, political leaders and concerned citizens across the West. After a summer of wildfires and with much of the state still experiencing severe or extreme drought, Coloradans in particular are worried about commercial oil shale development’s impact on their overtaxed water resources.
Despite 100 years of effort, industry has yet to turn oil shale into a viable energy source. BLM’s PEIS offers a reasonable approach to continue shale research on public lands. At the same time, it prevents handing over too many acres of the public estate to an unproven industry until its proven oil shale can be extracted without exerting excessive and undue harm to our water supplies and communities.